MS 13 gang member convicted of 6 murders, including New Bedford teenager

An MS-13 gang member from Virginia was convicted Monday of participating in six murders in New Bedford in 2018, including the slaying of a man whose body was dismembered, stuffed into plastic bags and buried in the woods, federal prosecutors said.

Elmer De Jesus Alas Candray, 27, was found guilty by a jury in U.S. District Court in Eastern Virginia of being the leader of a chapter of the Salvador-based gang in suburban Washington, D.C.

Beginning with the New Bedford murder, Alas Candray committed or participated in five more murders between 2020 and 2022, prosecutors said.

“This case is a stark reminder of the violence and disregard for human life inherent in MS-13’s criminal enterprise,” said Jessica D. Aber. U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginiahe said in a statement. “From flooding our streets with dangerous drugs to the brutal murders they seek to impose their presence on, their deadly activities will not go unchecked.”

Prosecutors said Alas Candray and other MS-13 members killed an associate, identified in court documents as Kevin Abarca-Choto, at a New Bedford home on Aug. 28, 2018.

“The leadership in El Salvador approved the killing because they believed Choto, identified in court documents as KAC, had betrayed MS-13,” prosecutors said. “That evening, they met with KAC at the home of an MS-13 member in New Bedford. “After the group had dinner together, they beat and strangled KAC to death.”

Prosecutors wrote that gang members then “dismembered KAC’s body, placed his remains in garbage bags, and buried his remains in a wooded area near New Bedford.” “Unfortunately, Candray and the other conspirators were promoted to the ranks of MS-13 for their participation in the murder.”

According to NAMUS, 18-year-old Abarca-Choto was reported missing by her father on September 1, 2018. national missing persons database.

Unfortunately, Candray and other gang members committed the other five murders in the Virginia suburbs, prosecutors said. He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of life in prison for each murder. The date of sentencing was set as January 30.

John R. Ellement can be reached at [email protected]. follow him @JREbosglobe.